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Vegas Makes Bet on Foreign Tourism

Las Vegas understands 95% of world's population lives outside the United States, so they're making it a goal to have 30% of their visitors come from outside the U.S. That's good business sense, because as the Las Vegas Review-Journal points out:

The average international traveler spends about $1,011 per stay and remains in the Las Vegas longer than four days each trip. Compare that with domestic tourists who spend $645 per visit on average and stay about three days.

To reach their mark Vegas has to broaden its sights beyond international guests currently arriving from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico and target tourists from growing economies like China, India, and Brazil.

The story goes on to note that, policy-wise, what can be done to help Vegas is reduce the time and hassle it takes to get visitor visas to tourists as well as work with Brand USA, "the federally mandated organization charged with promoting U.S. travel."

The administration is aware of the visitor visa difficulties. Last month in an exclusive interview with Free Enterprise Magazine, Commerce Secretary John Bryson said 50 additional visa officers would be in China.

Along with that welcome start, the U.S. Travel Association's Ready for Takeoff report has a few recommendations to the government to be more proactive in reducing the visa logjam.

Getting these implemented will help Las Vegas, and other U.S. travel destinations, draw more international tourists.